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Are Dry Kilns high maintenance or low maintenance? Can good or bad kiln maintenance affect the quality of the lumber you dry?

Stacking lumber for drying is a critical part of producing quality lumber. Sorting lumber before drying simplifies stacking and also aids in placing material of similar drying characteristics in the same kiln charge. The extent of sorting depends on practical considerations--some sorts are almost unavoidable, whereas others are sometimes omitted. Lumber can be sorted by species, moisture content, heartwood and sapwood, wetwood, grain, grade, thickness, and length.

Drying impacts the planing process. Wood that is too wet or too dry may have a chipped or fuzzy surface. Over-dry lumber may result in skip and slow the planer feed speed. Moisture content measurement at the planer can be used to improve the drying process. Feedback from the planer to the kilns is essential to improve or maintain quality drying.

Lumber dry kiln control systems control the environmental conditions of heat, relative humidity, and air circulation necessary for the proper drying of hardwood and softwood. These control systems are usually personal computer (PC) or programmable logic controller (PLC) based. On some older systems, cam follower control is used. Dry kilns typically dry lumber to between 3 and 19 percent moisture content.

Variability in wood properties causes boards within a stack of lumber to dry at different rates and reach different moisture content levels after drying is completed. The consequence is that the boards will have properties that differ from ones that were intended to be achieved by the drying process.

Wood drying may be described as the art of ensuring that gross dimensional changes through shrinkage are confined to the drying process. Ideally, wood is dried to that equilibrium moisture content as will later (in service) be attained by the wood. Thus, further dimensional change will be kept to a minimum.

Some stains are chemical and some stains are biological. It is important for the operator to distinguish these. Stains sometimes appear, and then go away on their own. Processing time from when the tree is felled to when the wood is dried is a major factor in controlling stain. Storage conditions for the logs and lumber are important. The kiln temperature, humidity, and airflow can make the problem worse. Insect discussions are welcome here too.